Added 7 October 2026
bush
/ˈbʊʃ/ noun
In Latin: dūmus, frutex Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bush at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A woody plant distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, being usually less than six metres tall; a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category.
-
A shrub cut off, or a shrublike branch of a tree.
bushes to support pea vines
- A thicket, a small wood, or a tract of uncleared, woody land.
verb
noun
noun
- Tracts of land covered in natural vegetation that are largely undeveloped and uncultivated, typically distinguished from absolute wilderness by implying a degree of marginal human engagement or proximity to settlement edges. The countryside area of Australia that is less arid and less remote than the outback; loosely, areas of natural flora even within conurbations. An area of New Zealand covered in forest, especially native forest. The wild forested areas of Canada; upcountry.
- The countryside area of Australia that is less arid and less remote than the outback; loosely, areas of natural flora even within conurbations.
- An area of New Zealand covered in forest, especially native forest.
Origin
From Middle English bush, from Old English *busċ, *bysċ (“copse, grove, scrub”, in placenames), from Proto-West Germanic *busk, from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (“bush, thicket”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to grow”). Doublet of bosque. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Busk (“bush”), West Frisian bosk (“forest”), Dutch bos (“forest, wood”), German Busch (“bush, shrub; small forest, grove”), Luxembourgish Bësch (“forest, wood”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk busk (“bush, shrub”), Icelandic buski (“bush, shrub”), Swedish buske (“bush, shrub”), Persian بیشه (bêša/biše, “woods”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)